In March, The Times reported that universities minister Jo Johnson MP had written to the chief executive of Universities UK, a representative body, drawing attention to their legal duties to promote the freedom of speech. Mr Johnson may have had his brother, Boris, in mind: in the heat of the Brexit campaign, he was “no platformed” at Kings College London after he authored a column referring to Barack Obama’s Kenyan ancestry.

No platforming is the policy of refusing to allow certain individuals to speak. It is one of a variety of measures adopted by some universities that critics say have had a chilling effect on freedom of speech; safe spaces, trigger warnings, academic boycotts, are others.

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